The effects of pectin from Citrus unshiu Marc. on glycolipid metabolism, the morphologies of the pancreas and epididymal fat, the gut microbiota, and the metabolites of short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) in db/db mice were investigated in this study. The results indicated that pectin reduced the levels of fasting blood glucose, glycated serum protein, triglycerides, total cholesterol, and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol while increasing the levels of high-density lipoprotein cholesterol. Meanwhile, pectin could improve the morphology of islet cells and inhibit the hypertrophy of adipocytes. Additionally, pectin not only regulated the intestinal flora dysbiosis in db/db mice, as shown by the increasing proportion of Firmicutes/Bacteroidetes and the relative abundance of Ligilactobacillus, Lactobacillus, and Limosilactobacillus, but also remedied the metabolic disorder of SCFAs in db/db mice. These results suggest that pectin could promote glucose and lipid metabolism by regulating the intestinal flora with changes in SCFA profile. This study proves that pectin might serve as a new prebiotic agent to prevent the disorder of glycolipid metabolism.
Keywords: glycolipid metabolism; gut microbiota; pectin.